Kieran O'Donnell (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. He is in the cockpit and is dealing with this daily. It is implicit in the Good Friday Agreement that there will be no hard border. I would have thought that the UK, as one of the principal partners in that agreement, would wish to do nothing to undermine it. If there is a hard border, what impact would that have on the Good Friday Agreement? That is logical.

Second, the uncertainty Brexit is causing is as big an issue as the outcome itself. I see no upside to Brexit, particularly for us. Many of us follow the British Premier League and, consequently, we watch British television channels. I find myself increasingly watching the news on Sky News and the BBC. "The Andrew Marr Show" is a weekly diet for me. I watch it so I can find out the thinking in the UK. The Minister can give his view on this but I have noticed a drift, certainly in the Labour Party, towards holding a second referendum. It would appear to be a logical step on the basis that if a general election were held it might not be specifically about the single issue of Brexit. A referendum is democratic. We hold referenda in this country and I support that because I believe the people are sovereign. What is the possibility of a second referendum being held in the UK?

Third, I welcome the Brexit preparations. I hope that common sense will prevail. In the UK there is a danger that the British Parliament is playing the man rather than the ball. Members have found themselves in a position where they have no experience of what we have got used to by stealth, which is coalitions collaborating. Who would have thought in early 2016 that a coalition Government of Fine Gael and the Independent Alliance with the support of the supply and confidence agreement with Fianna Fáil would have survived until now? That has been in the national interest. What the UK needs to consider is what is in its best interest. There is no upside to Brexit either for here or the UK. I believe a second referendum could provide a solution. It would be a decision of the people in the UK. I am not certain that people were fully aware of what they were voting for when the first referendum took place. It is now a question of finding a way that is ultimately in everybody's best interests. I do not foresee Europe being strong without the UK or the UK being strong without the EU. In our case, Britain is our major trading partner and for many in our indigenous business sector it is their only trading partner.

I ask the Minister to give his view on the Good Friday Agreement, the impact of not having a hard border and whether that is implicit in the agreement. I also seek his opinion on whether there is scope for a second referendum in the UK.